The 3 Best Vegan Beard Balms in 2026

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As soon as stop taking care of your beard, it doesn’t take long for it to look dry and fizzled, leaving you with an unkempt look.

To keep your beard tidy, you ought to use the right tools, and for many men, beard balm is essential to tame the wildest beards. 

It gives you the shine, and softness, as well as the tidied appearance one is proud to carry in an everyday routine.

However, as vegans, we need to keep in mind that most beard balms tend to contain beeswax, a byproduct of honey production.

Because of this, we’ve decided to create a list with only vegan beard balms, including the ever-so-popular Bulldog brand— which caters to men, specifically.

4 Things You Should Know Before Buying Vegan Beard Balm

Before you commit to either a cheap or expensive vegan beard balm, there are a few things you must take into consideration.

A good beard balm has to be effective, but for vegans, it also needs to be ethical.

1. Choose a beard balm with all-natural ingredients. It’s usually better for your skin, it’s ethical and better for the environment.

2. Check what types of oils are being used. Generally, beard balms containing jojoba, grapeseed, and argan oil are among the best beard balms.

3. Fortunately for us vegans, some of the best vegan beard balms are made from plant-based butter. Shea and cocoa butter are effective in locking in moisture, making it easier to spread the balm throughout your beard.

4. The main objective of balm (in most cases), is to get rid of beardruff. Therefore, if your beard balm cannot achieve that goal, it’s not worth your investment.

Best Vegan Beard Balms

Before we hop on this list with merely three vegan beard balms, allow me to say that these are not listed in a particular order (i.e.: from best to worst), since we believe these are all great.

Here’s a short list of the best vegan balms in the market:

Bulldog Vegan Beard Balm

Bulldog’s beard balm is a fast-absorbing, non-greasy beard balm that contains unique ingredients such as aloe vera, camelina oil, and green tea.

A formula that contains antioxidant and antibacterial properties that leave your beard healthy and well-maintained, including your skin. In addition, it also moisturizes your beard very effectively, so it also reduces itchiness and erases beardruff.

If you want a very cheap beard balm, you’ll be glad to know that Bulldog’s beard balm costs just under $10, which is cheaper than most formulas.

Some reviews suggest that this product does not give you the same greasiness and shine as other balms — which may be something that isn’t negative for some people.

That’s because Bulldog’s beard balm feels more like a conditioner (a type of lotion), and less like the typically oily, waxy beard balm. Fortunately, you can test it without breaking the bank.

Bulldog is a cruelty-free brand. They don’t test their products or ingredients on animals nor do they sell in countries that require animal testing.

However, Bulldog is owned by Edgewell which isn’t a cruelty-free company.

If you prefer not to buy from brands that are owned by companies that aren’t cruelty-free, Bulldog is not a good option for you.

Scotch Porter Beard Balm

Scotch Porter’s beard balm emphasizes conditioning and moisturizing, using shea butter, which is widely known for its hydrating and softening properties.

It also contains nettle leaf and white willow bark, which are often promoted for different reasons, with nettle leaf being associated with hair growth and white willow bark is often touted for its flake-reducing benefits.

These ingredients come together to produce a balm that not only tames flyaway hairs but also imbues your beard with a natural shine.

It’s ideal for those with dry or coarse beards, providing much-needed moisture to both the beard and the skin underneath.

The scent, a masculine yet floral blend of warm spice and powdery musk, is subtle and inviting; with the top notes of sandalwood and carnation combining with the base notes of vanilla, cashmere wood, and amber to create a scent profile that’s pleasing without being overbearing— creating a nice balance.

When applied, you’ll notice how the balm makes your beard incredibly soft and manageable, and also how its scent permeates through the room.

According to information on the brand’s official website, Scotch Porter’s beard balm is both vegan and cruelty-free; although it’s important to mention that not all of their products are vegan-friendly, namely a brush made from animal hair.

Also, from what I’ve gathered, Scotch Porter is not owned by a parent company, which is a positive point for vegans that don’t want to support monopolies.

Shea Moisture Beard Balm

With its commitment to natural and chemical-free ingredients, Shea Moisture’s Maracuja Oil & Shea Butter Beard Balm is a standout choice for those looking to nourish, define, and rejuvenate their beard.

The balm’s texture is non-greasy and non-sticky, so your beard doesn’t feel weighed down after application.

Instead, it leaves your hair feeling light, manageable, and deeply moisturized.

One of the balm’s key features is its use of maracuja oil, a powerhouse ingredient known for its rich Vitamin C content.

This not only infuses life into dull beard hair but also imparts a subtle glow.

Shea butter, another key ingredient, brings its famed hydrating properties to the table, ensuring that both your beard and the skin beneath are well-moisturized.

This balm is also capable of taming even the roughest and most unmanageable of beards. With a bit of this balm, you can shape and define your beard exactly as you want it, which is not the case for all balms.

The scent of this balm has been noted as a standout feature, offering a pleasing aroma that lingers. However, it’s worth noting that the fragrance, while loved by many, has been a point of contention for some users. While some find the aroma pleasant and light, others have found it to be too strong and persistent.

In terms of quantity, Shea Moisture’s Beard Balm offers a generous tub that has been reported to last up to a year for some users.

This, coupled with the product’s effective formulation, it’s a great bang for your buck.

What is Beard Balm?

The issue with most beard balms is that they’re not vegan.

If you just pick any beard balm from the supermarket, it will most likely have a combination of the following ingredients:

• Butter
• Beeswax
• Carrier Oil
• Essential Oil

As you might be aware, Beeswax is not vegan.

Beeswax

Beeswax is generally responsible for giving your beard a slight hold, allowing you to style your beard to a certain extent.

Unlike beard wax which gives you extreme hold, beeswax in beard balm allows you to maintain and train your beard.

In addition, it helps to lock in the moisture provided by other ingredients such as the actual oils.

The vegan beard balms I’ve suggested do not rely on beeswax to achieve that same result.

Instead, you got Candelilla Wax, an alternative derived from the leaves of the small Candelilla shrub native to northern Mexico and the southwestern United States.

Butter

Also, the butter we’re referring to here is not derived from dairy— the butter in beard balms can be either cocoa butter or shea butter. Both of which are plant-based.

Butter allows for the balm to be spread smoothly throughout the beard by actually making it dissolve. If the butter wasn’t used, it would take a really long time for the balm to melt.

Carrier Oils

Carrier oils come from different types of plants,  with the most common ones being jojoba, argon oil, sweet almond oil, etc. These oils are used to essentially moisturize and nourish your beard.

Jojoba oil, for instance, is especially good for sensitive skin, and it’s probably the type of oil that best resembles the natural sebum oil your skin produces. This is ideal because it reduces your chances of having an allergic reaction, which is a concept you should keep in mind before you just use anything on your skin that is unfamiliar to you.

Essential Oils

Essential oils provide the natural aroma or scent your ideal beard balm requires.

These oils can range from a wood-like scent, eucalyptus, citrus, and even peppermint. And those scents don’t take away from the other ingredients that also release scents such as cocoa or shea butter. However, keep in mind that essential oils can also have other benefits.

For example, tea tree essential oil is a natural antiseptic. So, if you’re suffering from acne, tea tree can be a good ingredient to clear up your skin.

Why is Beard Balm Good For You?

One of the few things you may notice after growing your beard for a while is an annoying thing called beardruff, which is produced once your skin becomes dry.

Once that happens, your skin becomes irritable and little snowflakes are produced (beardruff).

Products like beard balm and beard oil prevent that from happening because they contain ingredients that maintain your beard and the skin underneath moisturized.

But beard balm wasn’t invented just to deal with beardruff.

Beard balm also does an incredible job of softening your beard, impeding your beard from looking dry and fizzling out. In other words, you will look awesome beyond words.

Besides that, having a soft beard prevents split ends from happening.

This makes a tremendous difference if you really plan to have a healthy beard. In combination, you should also trim your beard properly to further reduce split ends from occurring.

How to Apply Beard Balm in 3 Simple Steps

To take advantage of all these benefits, all you gotta do is follow three single steps (after actually acquiring your vegan beard balm), which are:

1. Naturally, you want to scoop out a thumbnail size amount of beard balm out of the tin and onto your hands.

2. Rub that balm on your hands until it is fully melted;

3. And massage it on your beard by first working through your beard’s roots and then slowly making your way to the end of the beard — this ensures both the beard and the skin underneath it are moisturized to perfection.

In addition, once you finish applying the balm, you can also use a beard brush to better spread the balm more easily throughout your beard.

Conclusion

While the great majority of beard balms contain beeswax— you can now easily find options that better reflect your ethical principles. In fact, the reason we’ve created this blog post was to help you find high-quality vegan beard balms that are equally ethical and sustainable.

However, if you’re not happy with the choices we’ve picked, feel free to take a glance at other blog posts where we list out beard oils and beard brushes that are suitable for vegans.

Lastly, If you have any comments or questions about beard balms, feel free to leave a comment on this blog post. We highly appreciate it.